May 2025 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and Activity Reports
MORE – Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2025
Virtually present at meeting
Casey Anderson – President
Jali Fernando – Executive Secretary
Alison Wells – Administrative Assistant
David Beugelmans - Secretary
Dave Magill - MD Advocacy Director
Rob Lowe – Membership Director
Neil Blake – Treasurer
Michael Ullmann – VA Advocacy Director
Maris Finley – Activities Director
Kathy Mihm – Ride Programs Director
· Executive Director Report (Jali)
o Events
§ We had the launch of the One More Ride Beer in Silver Spring
· Really good partnership but didn’t raise a ton of money.
· There were several people that donated, everyone had an opportunity to create a recipe and brew
· Had about 25 people go in and out that afternoon. Now are stoked with our beer
· Menu has info on MORE
· Anyone who buys the beer, you can choose to donate to MORE via your tab.
· Cool event to have partnered with them
· Another cool thing about the partnership is they are willing to keep on doing it for any events we have.
· Location is in downtown Silver Spring
§ Ride and Picnic Series
· Last month, on April 19, had ride in Gunpowder. Dave, Allison and I were there.
o Great group rides and really impressed with the trails. Everyone there was very impressed with the trails,
o Very nice working with the GUMBO crew.
· Last Saturday, we had the next event in Rosaryville
o We had 70 people sign up, with 50 people showing up
o This was a partnership with MICL, who organized a course for kids and intro clinic.
o Minority mountain bikers was another partner.
§ MoCo Epic
· We are a go for camping this year, with limited spots for RV and tent camping from Saturday through Monday. Hopefully that lets us cast a wider net so people don’t need to drive for the day. Likely have 10 RV spaces and 25-50 tents
· Because we are doing the 100 miler this year, I anticipate a good number of people who want to try to their first dirt century will do it. We are interested in providing support and training rides to get to how long of a ride they want to do.
o We are partnering with Jerimiah Bishop, who is a pro mountain biker who grew up in the Baltimore area. Very familiar with MORE and does long rides and multi-day races. He is open to hosting a webinar to anyone interested on long distance raining, how to fuel, choosing gear, etc.
o Will be advertising the MoCo Epic on social media.
o Also will work on donations from sponsors
· Hope to open registration on July 1
· Financial Update (Neil)
o -$8.1k net general decrease
§ $8.0k general revenues
§ $5.6k memberships
§ $1.8k interest
§ $0.6k other
o $16.2k general expenses
§ $10.1k staff costs
§ $3.6k accountants
§ $1.4k to be analyzed
§ $1.1k other
o -$5.6k net restricted decrease
§ $4k restricted revenues
§ $3k Rivers Edge
§ $1k other
o $9.6k restricted expenses
§ $7.5k Greenbrier
§ $1.6k Rivers Edge (cost of T-shirts)
§ $0.5k other
· Increase Tool Budget from $8k to $15k (Dave M)
o Requires board approval
o It has been unpredictable when developing a budget to know how much to allocate for tools. Do a tool survey every year. Got a very good turnout this year. Big need at Gunpowder and Lake Fairfax, which are great places to send tools to.
o The result is I put in a budget of $8k, but I think we are already over $8k with what has been done.
o Neil: We are not at slightly over $10k.
o Dave M: A small group of made the decision to up what’s reimbursable for workdays for food, because telling people there is lunch is a big draw. Now allow $5-10 person if serving lunch. People like that.
o Think $4500 for the rest of the year will probably do it, but may come back and ask for a bit more, depending on how things go.
o Requesting board approve increase to $15,000.
o Neil: This is fine. There is nothing alarming what’s going on. We are spending a decent amount of money, but its stuff that needs to get done.
o Dave M: motion to increase budget to increase workday expenses and tools from $8k to $15k
§ Second: Maris
§ All voted in favor.
· Membership Update (Rob)
o April was good in terms of membership dollars (almost best April every). And Memberships were good also.
o May is running slower. On average we should be doing near $500 a day to hit last years $15K. At this point with 11 full days in were running about $300 a day.
o The push between social media, emails and reminders last Wednesday did get us near 20+ transactions and over $1K in 1 day so I'm hoping as I push out reminders this week with all the rain we get some catchup.
o By end of week being over $6K would be a good sign. $7K better, but who knows.
o We should be around $6450 post IMBA fees for April 2025.
· Membership Summary (April 2025, as of 5 May 2025 – 10 PM)
o 2025 vs 2024 year‑to‑date income
§ 2025 YTD: $26,166
§ 2024 YTD: $23,273
§ Positive variance: +$2,893
o Total members (new + current): 2,095
§ April 2025: 19 new + 2,076 current
§ March 2025: 2,106
§ February 2025: 2,077
o Lapsed / expiring members: 102 (combined total for April & March 2025)
· Other stats
o Joins
§ Apr 2025: 19
§ Mar 2025: 16
§ Feb 2025: 13
o Renew – N/A (under 15 days)
§ Apr 2025: 92
§ Mar 2025: 58
§ Feb 2025: 42
o Renew – Short (15 days – 3 months)
§ Apr 2025: 3
§ Mar 2025: 10
§ Feb 2025: 5
o Renew – Middle (3 – 6 months)
§ Apr 2025: 3
§ Mar 2025: 0
§ Feb 2025: 2
o Renew – Long (6 + months)
§ Apr 2025: 8
§ Mar 2025: 8
§ Feb 2025: 4
o Large donors (annual > $100)
§ Apr 2025: 21 donors — $2,400
§ Mar 2025: 12 donors — $1,500
§ Feb 2025: 11 donors — $1,400
· Money / Members
o Paid members – last 12 months
§ Total: 1,578 of 2,095 total members (as of 30 Apr 2025)
§ Estimated value (pre‑IMBA share): ≈ $97,000
o Auto‑renewing members – annual
§ Total memberships: 829 (members + family)
§ Of these, 592 are paying
§ Annual value: $39,040 (≈ $49,240 when monthly auto‑renewals are included)
§ Year‑over‑year comparison
§ 2024 baseline: 578 (+19 during 2024)
§ 2025 YTD: 597 (‑5 so far in 2025)
o Auto‑renewing members – monthly
§ Total: 87 (‑6 vs previous month)
§ Revenue: $850 per month (≈ $10,200 annually; $117.24 per member)
§ Year‑over‑year comparison
§ 2024 baseline: 87 (+5 during 2024)
§ 2025 YTD: 92 (‑5 so far in 2025)
· Neil: It is worth considering a minor increase to the membership dues amount
o Jali: Reaching out to IMBA is within my wheelhouse. I have reached out to them several times in the past few months.
§ Have a list of membership things I have brought up to them.
o Michael U: Do we get the value from IMBA that we pay for them?
§ Rob: Yes, we do.
o General agreement that this is something the board should investigate.
· Michael U:
o Love idea of a bundled deal where you get membership, t-shit, and MoCo Epic Entry
§ Jali: Likes idea. Will brainstorm and bring ideas to board.
· Trails
o Virginia (Michael)
§ Loudon provided MOU. Once they give us the thumbs up, plan on singing it. At this point, we will potentially have out first “trail” in Loudon County, which is a great start. We start putting out posts on social media.
§ Dave, Casey, Jali and myself were on an email chain with Tony regarding a request he wants to make for grant funds for work at Lake Fairfax. Will be putting in request for grant.
§ At James Long, last month they opened up their new Creekside trail. Have seen lots of feedback on social media. People are starting to travel from a distance because of the new trail. About 1.8 miles. Little side jumps and hits. Unique for this park. In process of getting a jump line started.
§ Meeting set up with city manager of Manassas, and mayor may be there. Will see what happens with opportunity.
§ Pat from Brookfield has indicated that Fairfax Parks may pay for the CCT connector trail.
o Maryland (Dave)
§ Rivers Edge, Greenbrier, Emmitsburg, and Shed are all doing projects.
· Rivers Edge
o Carlo is raising money. He is having Andrew M refresh the first gravity lines. Dave M told him he should try to raise at least half of funds.
· Greenbrier
o Have completed a $70k RTP grand. Want to encourage Maris to reach out to folks involved for a discovery ride event.
o Very good trail system and working had and take very steep sections and fixing them. Last time I was there I was very impressed. Up to 11 or 12 miles of trail.
· Watershed
o Boundary line refresh is underway. This is another area where we should sponsor a MORE discovery ride, especially for people who have not been there before.
· Emmitsburg
o Tim has a 20-year plans and is making a lot of progress. College of Mt. Saint Mary’s wants to connect to trail system. Time for another discovery ride in Emmitsburg.
§ SHA did not agree to make changes to indemnification language in grant agreements. As discussed, we are moving forward and upping our insurance.
· Patuxent – 2.5 miles of trail, with lots of clearing going on. Getting bids out within a month or two.
· Rosaryville – Moving along. Need additional mapping to get moving. Will have lots of work to do out there.
· Northwest Branch – Finally got qualifying bid for boardwalks. Montgomery County added three miles of trail at north end, but you need to go through some boggy areas to ge there.
§ Andrew Levine has been working on getting bike repair stands and Friends of Seneca Creek State Park have agreed to pay for ½ of cost.
§ We submitted a $230k grant application for additional trail at Patuxent, in a really nice area.
§ Fixed up the bank on the stream crossing on the Seneca Bluffs Trail.
§ Patapsco
· Park manager decided to run trailwork events, not MORE
· Eric Crawford will keep working on it
· MORE should keep encouraging everyone to work together.
· Jali:
o Friends wants us to sponsor a trailwork day in July.
§ There is a park around La Plata with a 12 mile trail system. It is on the DNR website. 20 minutes south of Cedarville. This is one we are going to take a look at.
· Ride Program Update (Kathy)
o There has been some interest in starting new rides, in Northern Virginia have started a ride associated with the adults in the NoVa composite team
o Hillary is doing 4 clinics at South Germantown Bike Park. Hope we are making some progress.
o Found a different background provider for ride leaders.
o Shed at South Germantown Bike Park
§ This wasn’t a problem until the park manager got involved and is now pushing back against shed. We are continuing to try to push this forward.
· Events Update (Maris)
o Thank you everyone for supporting to the start to the picnic ride series. Getting more riders out than what we expected to start. The fact that we are exceeding expectations is great.
o Secured location for the Winter Metting for 2026. Going to have it at Civic Center in Silver Spring. People think it is good geographically. It makes the most sense for the most people.
o For the Picnic Series, looking at James Long and Fairfax. They are on tap. Three more rides scheduled to do.
§ James Long – having issues because claim they need permits. Was able to book Pavillion for ride. Trail liaison is very excited.
§ Lake Fairfax – This is another popular destination. Been trying to set this up. Call scheduled for tomorrow night. Hoping to include the Bike Lane in that.
o Third one is Hashaway, which will be in July. They are very excited to have MORE out there for an event.
Activity Reports
· President – Casey Anderson
- Met with Montgomery Parks staff regarding: camping and permits for MoCo Epic
- Submitted testimony and drafted alert for Fairfax Parks budget
· Jali Fernando – Executive Director
- Worked on membership drive communications with Alison
- Helped organize and attended ride and picnic in Gunpowder
- Helped organize and attended ride and picnic in Rosaryville
- Set up BikeReg pages for skills clinics and Women's MTB Day
- MoCo Epic planning: finalized sponsors, reaching out to sponsors and vendors
- Met with Montgomery Parks about MoCo Epic camping and marketing
- Enrolled MORE in Walmart Spark Good platform for staff volunteer opportunity in Lake Fairfax and future grants
- Applied for grant to get Catalyst Sports adaptive fleet for the MoCo Epic
- Worked with designer on annual report, sent to printers, will distribute to board members who requested copies
- Regular communications: social media and newsletter content, responded to emails from members
· Secretary – David Beugelmans
o File MD and VA annual report filings
o Coordinated board meeting and finalized minutes
o Advocate for and advance Annapolis Flow Trail and Bacon Ridge/Waterworks Connector projects
· MD Advocacy Director – Dave Magill
o trailwork day at Patuxent
o received response from SHA regarding amendments to indemnities, unfortunately they declined to make any changes. will bring up legislation again this fall
o executed the $100k LBI grant agreement for Patuxent, working on the invitation for bids document
o executed the $160 RTP grant agreement for Rosaryville, working on data for NEPA review
o working to arrange delivery of the lumber for North West Branch boardwalks, sourced from a $40k RTP grant
o working with Andrew Levine and Friends of SCSP to fund and purchase 4 bike repair stands for SCSP and Pax
o submitted $230k RTP grant for Pax 2B, 4 miles of trail
o repaired badly eroded stream bank on the Seneca Bluffs trail,
· VA Advocacy Director – Michael Ullman
o Working with Loudoun County and Stephen Martinez (LoCo Liaison) on the MOU as well as plans for a skills park at Edgar Tillet in Ashburn. MOU draft attached for review
o Working with Chris Meyer’s on planning for a new jump line at James Long Park
o Set up a meeting with the city of Manassas Park to explore a new trail system at a former City Golf Course
o Working with Tony Watkins to submit a GTF Grant for an upcoming project for Lake Fairfax. This project will add additional mileage to Lake Fairfax as well as provide a much needed reroute of the return line for the Jump Line area.
· Membership Director – Rob Lowe
o [*]
· Ride Program Director – Kathy Mihm
o Set up misc. rides and Clinics
o Trained and set up new leaders
o Found new vendor for background checks for new ride leaders
o Updated Patuxent trail map
o Lead rides and one clinic
o Transferred travel bike box loan program to Alison W.
· Communications Director – N/A
· Treasurer – Neil Blake
o -$8.1k net general decrease
§ $8.0k general revenues
§ $5.6k memberships
§ $1.8k interest
§ $0.6k other
o $16.2k general expenses
§ $10.1k staff costs
§ $3.6k accountants
§ $1.4k to be analyzed
§ $1.1k other
o -$5.6k net restricted decrease
§ $4k restricted revenues
§ $3k Rivers Edge
§ $1k other
o $9.6k restricted expenses
§ $7.5k Greenbrier
§ $1.6k Rivers Edge (cost of T-shirts)
§ $0.5k other
· Activities Director – Maris Finley
o Secured venue for 2026 Winter Membership Meeting – SS Civic Center 2/28/2026
o Planning for remaining Ride & Picnic Series:
- Hashawa 7/26
n Also committed to vendor table at Hill Yeah! Event on 6/7
- James Long – 8/9
n Permit secured & routes in progress
- Lake Fairfax – 8/23
n Waiting on confirmation of details before making public
o Working on swag for upcoming events – seeking additional feedback